That's one of the jokes making the rounds after what was a triumphant election for Alabama Republicans and a disaster for state Democrats.

But behind the joke is a real question: In the wake of a historic election that saw Democrats lose every single statewide race and lose control of the Legislature for the first time in 136 years, is the Alabama Democratic Party, like the dinosaur, extinct?

"Obviously the Democrats were beaten badly in Alabama, more than ever before. But, the truth is the Democratic Party in Alabama has been on life support since 1986 and on Tuesday, Nov. 2, the Republicans pulled the plug," said Natalie Davis, a longtime professor of political science at Birmingham-Southern College. Guy Hunt won the governor's race in 1986, becoming the first Republican to hold that job since Reconstruction.

Davis, who sought and lost the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate in 1996, has numbered among her friends and associates a generation of Alabama Democratic Party leaders whose time has come and gone, she charges.

"This party has tired leadership and it offers voters nothing that speaks to their daily concerns and needs," Davis said. "Name me a policy proposal that has been passed with Democratic leadership which speaks to the needs of working families? ... I have a hard time coming up with one."

William H. Stewart is another political scientist who has watched Alabama politics from his perch at the University of Alabama for more than 40 years. His late father served in the Legislature from Morgan County and was a Democrat.

Stewart said what happened Nov. 2 in Alabama was the final fulfillment of President Lyndon Johnson's prediction when he signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

"President Johnson at that time said the act would eventually lead to the death of the Democratic Party in the South, and he was essentially right," Stewart said. "What happened election night has really been coming for almost 50 years. I think the Republican Party began its ascent in 1964 and in 2010 it completed the journey in Alabama.

"Obviously, some Democrats in some mostly urban areas and in the Black Belt will continue to seek and win elections," Stewart said. "But, I think that for a very, very long time you will not see the Alabama Democratic Party play an effective role as a statewide party winning races for governor, attorney general, Congress, president and a majority of seats in the Legislature."

Or maybe not, said Rep. John Rogers, a Birmingham Democrat and chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus. Rogers isn't nearly as pessimistic as most about the future of the state party.

"Listen, what happened Nov. 2 was a mugging, an alley butt-whipping, and part of it was the anti-Obama mood you saw in the country and in Alabama, but also I admit part of it was our fault as a state party," Rogers said. "We had no plan, no ideas and we did stupid things that really sent a message to voters that we were as a party out of touch."

Rogers said the state Democratic Party made a politically devastating decision when it filled an unexpected judgeship opening with a Jefferson County lawyer who had not sought the office in the primary but is black, over the second-place finisher in the primary, who is white.

"It sent a message that Democrats look at the color of someone's skin first, not their qualifications, not the fact they didn't even run for the office, and it sent that message all over the state," he said. "It cost us votes up and down the ballot."

Rogers said Democrats also shot themselves in the foot when Sen. Hank Sanders of Selma used the race card to try to drive up black voter turnout by saying a GOP win would force blacks back to the days of Jim Crow and the cotton fields.

Rogers predicted Democrats could recapture the Legislature in just four years if they find new leadership, new candidates and a central message.

"A lot of these races we lost, we just barely lost," Rogers said. "This thing can be reversed, but we need to do a better job of identifying issues that people really care about and then I think you will see us make a comeback. This party has a future."

But it may not be that easy, and it may not happen at all, if you listen to veteran Democrats such as Mobile's John Tyson. Yes, that John Tyson, head of Republican Gov. Bob Riley's Task Force on Illegal Gambling.

Before Tyson held that job, he was Mobile County district attorney for 16 years. Before that, he was an Alabama Board of Education member for 14 years. He has run for office eight times, all as a Democrat. His family is filled with Democrats who have sought and won office. His great-grandfather was a legislator, congressman and Alabama chief justice. Through it all, the Tysons always have been Democrats.

But maybe not any longer.

"Frankly, I don't know what I am any longer, but I know I don't want to be associated with the leadership of the Democratic Party of Alabama," Tyson said. "They are out of step, they are arrogant, they don't listen to anybody but themselves and, frankly, they have made alliances with corrupt elements in our state, most notably with organized crime in the form of illegal gambling.

"Now, you put all that together, and the fact that as a party they can't offer one ... new idea to help move this state forward except for taxing illegal gambling, then maybe you shouldn't be surprised when voters turn their backs."

Jeremy Paul Sherer is a 32-year-old Birmingham lawyer who has run twice as a Democrat, once for the Legislature and this year for the nomination for state treasurer. He lost both times. He is also deeply worried that his party's future is bleak without real changes in its direction and leadership.

In a piece for The Birmingham News recently, Sherer wrote: "Most Democrats tend to believe that when government is principled in purpose and is accountable to the electorate, government can and should improve and enhance our socioeconomic fabric."

But ask Sherer if the state Democratic Party has been principled in purpose and accountable, and he says: "Over the last generation the state Democratic Party, at least (it) seems to me, has lacked a purpose. It's kind of hard to be principled in purpose when you're searching for that purpose."

Sherer said the Democrats he knows want to see the party embrace "reforms" such as changing how campaigns are financed and banning lobbyists from spending large sums entertaining and buying gifts for lawmakers. He said that, too often, Democrats in office appear more interested in serving themselves than the people.

"Four years ago, after much talk about ethics reforms, what did Democrats who controlled the Legislature do first? They voted themselves a 62 percent pay raise," Sherer said. "That is not serving the people and that is what government must be about. Until Democrats embrace real reforms, until Democrats denounce corruption and embrace changes that put themselves on the side of people and a government than can do good things and not just serve self-interest, Democrats will not deserve to govern this state again."

U.S. Rep. Artur Davis of Birmingham, who lost his historic bid this year to win the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, has been a harsh critic of his state party, no less so than after the election.

"Alabama Democrats have to do some real examination on whether they want the Democratic Party to be viable in the next several years," Davis said. "It was a one-party state when I started watching, and occasionally a Republican could compete in a particular circumstance. Then it was a two-party state. But, it's now becoming a one-party state again."

Natalie Davis said that, until the leadership of the party steps aside or is forced out, the Alabama Democratic Party exists in name only.

"I think the Alabama Democratic Party is dead, at least for a number of election cycles as a true competitive statewide party," Davis said.Join the conversation by clicking to comment or 3-mail Dean at cdean@bhamnews.com.